–Engage

From the IxDA Symposium (just my slides)
Introduction: Connecting IxD and IA (pdf; 1.4mb)
Now Web Pt. 1: Richer (pdf; 2.2mb)

From the IA Summit
Wireframing Survey – Using Flash (pdf; 69kb)
Web 2.0 & AJAX for IAs (PowerPoint Slideshow; 7.5mb)

Design Vision
The beginning of 2006 a group of 4 pretty awesome designers got together and published a virtual conversation on their mutual blogs. Luke Wroblewski, Jim Leftwitch, Dirk Knemeyer, and Bob Baxley (in reverse alphabetical order, b/c Luke is almost always mentioned last otherwise) represent very different backgrounds sometimes within the same individual. They also have different focuses in their design careers. You can get a PDF of the conversation at Functioning Form.

The conversation should be required reading for anyone wanting to move their design career up a notch, make their design teams more influential, and most importantly improve the final quality of their designs, themselves.

The overall salient point of the conversation is that design succeeds best when there is a coherent vision attached to a project. Some of the group focused on this meaning that the vision is owned and directed by a single individual, while others balanced that with a more collaborative approach.

Another salient point of the conversation is that communication is a central component of many facets of a design process. Bob Baxley in particular did a great job of focusing the conversation from communicating solutions to really communicating a design vision. These are two very distinct tasks and both vital to a final solution.

Every conversation has a few holes, and I’m the one to point out the ones that I care about.

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Ok, so now that i pushed out my final material to be printed for the Summit, I’m really excited about all aspects of it. Here are the various places where I am actively participating.

• the IxD Symposium by IxDA – This full day pre-conference to the Summit on March 23rd, is going to be really great. The headliners are Kim Goodwin from Cooper and Luke Wroblewski from Yahoo. Both their 2.5 hour seminars are GREAT! Kim is going to take the magic out of moving from personas to a real application design, and Luke is going to teach us how to be better at communicating visually the behaviors we so much want to be apparent to our users. The book ends to these seminars are a rpesentation by me, contextualizing the relationship between IxD and IA. I gave an earlier evolved version of this presentaiton at last year’s summit. But don’t worry this one is shorter, as well as revamped with new thinking. The other bookend is a panel with myself, Luke and Frank Ramirez on the “Now” Web. This 90min. panel goes over definitions, emerging patterns of behavior, ramifications and best practices around making the web experience Richer, social, and more open. of course it all concludes with a Q/A of all the participants.
• Post Symposium outting – For those who are attending the syposium, I’m hoping we can continu the conversation over dinner. Of course it is not required, nor is it included in your fees, but after being in such a focused environment with each other, it will be great to just “be”.
• UXNet Local Ambassadors/Volunteers Dinner – a bunch of people who volunteer for UXNet are going to be at the Summit. We have chosen Friday night to get together. I’m soooo lookin’ forward to it.
• Saturday Night IA Planning Committe Dinner
• Wireframing technique panel

– I’m on a panel with some other great folks talking about different techniques for doing flat or interactive prototypes. Should be a good way to wake up in the morning on Sunday.

• What do AJAX, RIAs and Web 2.0 Really Mean for IAs? presentation. There are a host of presentations on this topic. I think I actually have something different to say about it. of course I’ll have a little practice from the Thursday panel at the IxD Symposium.
• Sunday night IxD outing – Last year at the Summit we invited Summit attendees and local UXers who live in the area to join us for an evening out–dinner and drinks. We had so much fun with about 30 people for dinner, then 15 for drinks at a funky bar and then 7 hard core people who stayed up till 3a. Who knows, it may happen again. I know I’m lookin’ forward to it.

So please do come to the Summit. Register Now! It is really worth the very low price for everything. And heck the hotel is in Canada … It’s like getting a discount, just on the currency exchange!